The Warc Prize for Asian Strategy 2012 – All entrants

The Warc Prize for Asian Strategy is Asia's first dedicated competition rewarding great strategic thinking in marketing. 2012 marks the Prize's second year. The US$5,000 cash prize is free to enter and is awarded to the case study that demonstrates the best strategic thinking in the region.

Social media company Brandtology saw an opportunity to use the Singapore General Election as a way to challenge existing media giants and establish its name. View Summary

Social media company Brandtology saw an opportunity to use the Singapore General Election as a way to challenge existing media giants and establish its name. Online conversations on the election were turned into a dynamic, interactive infographic-based website. Brandtology's minute-by-minute sentiment analysis meant visitors could see how people felt in each constituency, and even about each party. SG Party Time became the emotional barometer for the nation, garnering over 252,000 page views and generating S$230,000 worth of earned media value.

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Nestlé: Good Food, Good Life - How am I?

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Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, Entrant, 2012

Scares about obesity and hypertension forced Nestlé Malaysia to take action in order to protect market share and strengthen wellness-oriented positioning. View Summary

Scares about obesity and hypertension forced Nestlé Malaysia to take action in order to protect market share and strengthen wellness-oriented positioning. In particular, it needed to influence mothers and so developed the 'How Am I?' campaign, designed to get mothers to stop and reflect on their own and their family's health and eating behaviour. Nestlé guided them towards taking simple steps to a practical and healthy routine. TV ads suggested healthier snack options, print offered advice on how to understand food labelling, a short website survey identified people's attitudes to nutrition, and events helped mothers experience the 'How Am I?' proposition at first hand. By 2012, 70% of Malaysians considered Nestlé an expert and leader in nutrition, compared to 56% two years earlier.

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Oreo brings India together

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Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, Entrant, 2012

Three big players take a 75% share of the biscuit market in India and none of the other 1,000 brands has more than a 5% share. View Summary

Three big players take a 75% share of the biscuit market in India and none of the other 1,000 brands has more than a 5% share. So Oreo faced a tough challenge when it set out to become one of the country's favourite brands for mothers and children. With research showing the adverse impact of modern life on Indian families, it created the Oreo Togetherness Movement to encourage parents and children to spend more time with each other. As part of the campaign, the Oreo Togetherness Bus visited 20 cities across India, reaching 1.5m people and sparking a nationwide debate on how much time people spend with their families. Oreo became children's favourite biscuit and one of the top three brands among mothers.

Audi launched its A8 L in India by leveraging 3D technology with this campaign. The target audience was wealthy - a group growing (in numbers) faster in India than anywhere else in the world. View Summary

Audi launched its A8 L in India by leveraging 3D technology with this campaign. The target audience was wealthy - a group growing (in numbers) faster in India than anywhere else in the world. This group traditionally seeks out bargains when buying a luxury car - a habit Audi hoped to break. The campaign strategy involved a DM pack to influencers and "elite" consumers, containing a 3D brochure and glasses. A 3D film, along with mobile apps, and, eventually, a TV campaign, were subsequently rolled out to reinforce the message. Audi A8 L subsequently met 50% of its annual sales target in the very first month of the launch.

Ortigas, a property developer in the Philippines, promoted Viridian, a luxury residential condominium, to older Filipino Chinese buyers. The campaign took advantage of their knowledge of feng shui, since experts claim Greenhills is at the 'belly of the dragon', an auspicious location. This formed the basis of the advertising campaign, with materials featuring a gold dragon - gold being the colour representing luck to the Chinese - and the colour red - associated by the Chinese with joy and good fortune. A tri-media campaign used TV to raise awareness, out-of-home to remind the market, and transit and print to give compelling reasons to buy a unit in Viridian. The reception to the campaign was positive, as reflected by average monthly sales of US$3m during 2012.

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Colorectal Cancer Screening: Ong & Raj

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Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, Entrant, 2012

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common cancer in Singapore, affecting one in 20 men and one in 30 women. View Summary

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common cancer in Singapore, affecting one in 20 men and one in 30 women. Despite this, few people have any knowledge of it. The Health Promotion Board adopted a gentle, light-hearted touch to make the case for screening among older Singaporeans, with two short films on Facebook and YouTube, and TV ads supported by press and radio. The campaign successfully raised the level of awareness, created strong message retention of the signs and symptoms of CRC and, most importantly, encouraged significantly more people to go for regular CRC screening.

Soya drink Vitasoy wanted to extend its usage beyond breakfast and to tackle the problem of its core young Hong Kong consumers trending towards ready-to-drink coffee and tea, milk and energy drinks. Research identified four distinct moments in consumers' lives - Work, Study, Loving and Happy Moments - and a TV commercial drove usage by helping them recognise the drink's suitability for such occasions. TV was augmented by bus wraps, POS, outdoor and delivery trucks, along with other BTL activity. As a result, declining sales were turned around and a 9.3% growth was achieved during the life of the campaign.

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Rexona: Police

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Deric Wong, Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, Entrant, 2012

In Hong Kong, many people limit their use of deodorants to the summer and sports. Rexona therefore wanted to establish use of its deodorants as an 'everyday habit'. View Summary

In Hong Kong, many people limit their use of deodorants to the summer and sports. Rexona therefore wanted to establish use of its deodorants as an 'everyday habit'. To achieve this, it set up the 'Rexona police' - the anti-smell agents of the 'No Smell Association', a new and powerful pressure group designed to activate consumers' self-consciousness regarding body odour. The 'police' were initially publicised via viral video, and then through mass media (TV, print, online, mobile, MTR in-train and in-bus stickers). The campaign drove substantial volume growth of 8.4% over the eight-week campaign period.

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NESCAFE: Rewriting The Rules For Facebook Engagement

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Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, Entrant, 2012

Instant coffee in the Philippines is seen as highly functional, but consumer tastes are changing and new competitors have entered the market. View Summary

Instant coffee in the Philippines is seen as highly functional, but consumer tastes are changing and new competitors have entered the market. So, despite having two-thirds of the market, Nescafé felt the need to deepen affinity with its consumers. Facebook was chosen as the optimal relationship-building channel, with the brand moving on from earlier occasional promotions to a longer-term, sustainable strategy. Nescafe's 'always awake' approach saw the creation of a loyalty program, awarding points for participation in marketing activity through the use of various apps and which could be redeemed for brand merchandise or entered in a monthly prize draw. Alongside this, a conversation-starter strategy ensured daily traffic to Nescafe Facebook page and greater interaction with the brand. The result was unprecedented participation levels and increased brand affinity.

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Rexona: Dead fans

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Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, Entrant, 2012

Rexona Men, a small deodorant brand in Vietnam, took the opportunity of the South East Asian Games to engage with the male population and grow the brand. View Summary

Rexona Men, a small deodorant brand in Vietnam, took the opportunity of the South East Asian Games to engage with the male population and grow the brand. Since the Vietnamese national football team hadn't been playing well, there was little expectation of success and consequently little support. Rexona wanted to give fans something to cheer about, so it avoided football and instead focused on men's other interests: women and technology. The campaign used social media to direct consumers to a website where a voice-activated football cheerleader danced; the more the users shouted the harder she danced and cheered. Afterwards, fans were pointed towards the brand's Facebook page where they could leave positive messages for the Vietnam team. Over six weeks, the campaign reached 100% of the target audience and sold as much as the brand would usually sell in four months.

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Alpenliebe: Rural story for Alpenliebe - Effective use of home video

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Aprajita Virmani, Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, Entrant, 2012

Alpenliebe, a major brand in Indian confectionery market owned by Perfetti Van Melle, derived almost half its revenue from rural regions. View Summary

Alpenliebe, a major brand in Indian confectionery market owned by Perfetti Van Melle, derived almost half its revenue from rural regions. It faced problems in maintaining saliency for the brand there, however, as frequent power cuts restricted TV's reach. Since people in rural areas tend to catch up on entertainment through home-rental movies when power is available, Alpenliebe teamed up with a leading video maker and distributor to develop an innovative branding method. In the first-ever use of contextual advertising in India, an animated brand mascot was shown emoting differently during various film scenes, reflecting what was happening on screen. Brand preference scores increased 1.2% as a result.

This campaign, for Magnum, a Unilever Walls-owned ice cream brand, used experiential media to reach Indonesian consumers. It centred on the Magnum Café, a real-life café set up in a busy Jakarta mall that was in business for almost a year. The grand vision was to encourage as many Indonesians as possible to consume ice cream by creating new consumption occasions; the specific target audience was female "pleasure seekers". The café's launch was promoted via TV, print and outdoor ads, backed by PR and digital elements. Overall, the campaign generated US$1.5m in earned media; the café received 325,000 visitors; and Magnum's Indonesian market share hit 70%.

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Sony Handycam: Forever Moments

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Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, Entrant, 2012

Sony Indonesia was launching a new model of its camcorder, the Sony Handycam. Research indicated that, where people once captured 'precious moments' on film, thanks to compact cameras, smartphones and social media, these had now become 'disposable moments'. View Summary

Sony Indonesia was launching a new model of its camcorder, the Sony Handycam. Research indicated that, where people once captured 'precious moments' on film, thanks to compact cameras, smartphones and social media, these had now become 'disposable moments'. Sony felt the higher quality of Handycam footage set the brand apart. The campaign therefore targeted new parents and young families and showed how 'forever moments' could be captured in HD and shared together via the built-in projector. The message was distributed through TV, cinema, print, billboard, online banners, blogger community coverage and a variety of in-store materials. Sales increased by 290% during the campaign period and the PJ5 model sold out.

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CP Sausage: Sausage Mansion

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Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, Entrant, 2012

CP Sausage defended its position in Thailand with this campaign, which aimed to attract the youth market via a branded online video sitcom called Sausage Mansion. View Summary

CP Sausage defended its position in Thailand with this campaign, which aimed to attract the youth market via a branded online video sitcom called Sausage Mansion. For a period of 16 weeks a new seven-minute webisode was released each week. To drive involvement, the audience could also interact with the 10 Mansion characters via their private (blog and chat) rooms as if they existed in real life. Post-campaign, sales in 7-Eleven rose by 120%. Over four million page views have been registered so far, mainly due to massive PR support.

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DiGi WWWOW - Malaysia's 1st internet for all awards

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Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, Entrant, 2012

Malaysian telecoms company DiGi launched its 3G internet product four years after its main competitors. View Summary

Malaysian telecoms company DiGi launched its 3G internet product four years after its main competitors. Having identified targeting younger, casual users via a pricing and social media as the way to proceed, it created the DiGi WWWOW awards to celebrate ordinary people doing creative things online. With 16 categories based on internet habits (Top Blogger, Fave Online Person Over 40 etc), the awards were decided on people's votes, and creators were encouraged to promote their particular entry via social media. DiGi also enlisted high-profile partners to sponsor prizes in each category, further widening the reach of the campaign. DiGi internet outgrew the category, achieving 55% year-on-year growth.

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Slurpee: Sentai

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Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, Entrant, 2012

Phil Seven Corporation needed to halt declining sales of its Slurpee brand in the Philippines. In order to do so it positioned the frozen drink as an ideal after-school snack that would allow the target audience of 16 to 19-year-olds to spend extra time with their friends before heading home. View Summary

Phil Seven Corporation needed to halt declining sales of its Slurpee brand in the Philippines. In order to do so it positioned the frozen drink as an ideal after-school snack that would allow the target audience of 16 to 19-year-olds to spend extra time with their friends before heading home. The television commercials tapped into a trend for shows by featuring sentai characters - a group of friends with superpowers. The campaign highlighted the fun, adventurous, colourful quality of the product and led to a sales increase of 45%.

Brand's Essence of Chicken, a functional food from Cerebos Pacific, was regarded as a health product for older consumers. View Summary

Brand's Essence of Chicken, a functional food from Cerebos Pacific, was regarded as a health product for older consumers. The challenge was to appeal to a younger generation, to encourage daily consumption of the product, and to highlight potential benefits without making any direct health claims, which are not permitted in Singapore's regulatory environment. The strategy was to make people realise for themselves that they weren't as alert as they thought they were. The campaign used a slang expression 'blur or not?', which describes those moments when people aren't fully attentive, and engaged academics to conduct alertness deficiency tests. These tests were filmed and turned into TV ads. Other marketing activity included social media, radio, outdoor, print and advertorials. Brand affinity rose 9% and sales increased by 16%.

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AKS: The safety catch

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Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, Entrant, 2012

In Bangladesh there are more than 200 mills producing cheap steel products by using imported and locally available ship scrap, but only a few of these mills use imported billet to produce high-quality mild steel rods. View Summary

In Bangladesh there are more than 200 mills producing cheap steel products by using imported and locally available ship scrap, but only a few of these mills use imported billet to produce high-quality mild steel rods. Abul Khair Steel Mills planned to double its market share by educating consumers - its main targets were real-estate developers and independent house builders - about the differences in steel quality and the dangers of using a low-grade product. The campaign "1% lacking, 100% risk" used TV and press and featured businessmen in a variety of situations persuading consumers to buy faulty goods. Subsequently, the firm's market share grew from 10% to 27%.

The detergents category is one of the most competitive in the Philippines, but the last five years had seen a stagnant growth in market share. View Summary

The detergents category is one of the most competitive in the Philippines, but the last five years had seen a stagnant growth in market share. Competition had entered a stage of homogeneity with key players pitching the same promise of effectiveness and superiority on the same platform - television. To cut through the clutter, Champion Detergent sought to use outdoor advertising by promoting on all Light Railways Transit turnstiles in Metro Manila, which were aimed to reach both incoming and outgoing passengers. The campaign led to an increase in volume sales of 9.2% and increased market share by 5 points to 33%.

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DBS Credit Card: Dining planners

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Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, Entrant, 2012

DBS, a small player in Hong Kong's retail banking market, wanted to increase its credit card usage and have its loyalty scheme stand out in the sea of sameness offered by its rivals. View Summary

DBS, a small player in Hong Kong's retail banking market, wanted to increase its credit card usage and have its loyalty scheme stand out in the sea of sameness offered by its rivals. The bank had already built a strong reputation for its reward scheme based on its dining-rewards platform and now planned to become the definitive credit card for HK's elite foodies. To that end it collaborated with celebrity experts to create a dynamic year-round programme that elevated dining in innovative ways and offered foodies unique privileges. The message was communicated primarily via print and TV. The target audience responded positively, with a 24% increase in total card transactions, while dining-related usage trebled.

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BPI Auto Loans: Christopher Lao - Because nature does not inform

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Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, Entrant, 2012

Bank of Philippine Islands' (BPI) loans designed for automotive purchases had been declining in popularity, partly because typhoons which devastated the region had led to Filipinos becoming reluctant to buy cars. View Summary

Bank of Philippine Islands' (BPI) loans designed for automotive purchases had been declining in popularity, partly because typhoons which devastated the region had led to Filipinos becoming reluctant to buy cars. To stimulate a turnaround in the second half of the year, the campaign focused on BPI's offering of an insurance policy which covered natural disasters, which was promoted through a viral video as well as via online and social media. The campaign led to it exceeding its target for auto loans by 18%.

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Circulo Verde: Nostalgia

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Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, Entrant, 2012

Philippines developer Ortigas had revamped its master plan for Circulo Verde, a Manila condominium community of 15 residential towers laid out over 10 hectares of land. View Summary

Philippines developer Ortigas had revamped its master plan for Circulo Verde, a Manila condominium community of 15 residential towers laid out over 10 hectares of land. This development was used in a campaign aimed at attracting young professionals and families to two newly built high-rises with the promise of both the privacy and security of living in a condo and the neighbourliness and green space of living in a house with a garden. Circulo Verde made an emotional appeal to a sense of nostalgia in the target audience, who were of an age to remember things like catching dragonflies in a field or playing hopscotch in the street. TV, radio, print and out-of-home were used to sell the message 'Recover what was lost in city living'. As a result, the average number of monthly sales increased.

This case study describes how Volkswagen used integrated campaigns to establish VW Polo, the VW Vento and the VW Jetta in the three most critical volume segments in India. View Summary

This case study describes how Volkswagen used integrated campaigns to establish VW Polo, the VW Vento and the VW Jetta in the three most critical volume segments in India. The brand owner was playing catch-up to rivals who had already launched in India, so focused its marketing on building brand awareness. Volkswagen chose 'innovation' as the value on which to focus, so all Volkswagen communications, for whatever model or brand activity, highlighted the brand's commitment to innovation. In terms of specific ads, innovation was used across print and online, with highlights including the launch of the world's first 'talking newspaper' to promote the Vento in 2010. By 2011, Volkswagen was one of the top two brands associated with innovation in India.

India's largest newspaper, Dainik Jagran, needed to assert its opinion leadership and defend against competition from other channels such as television and new media. View Summary

India's largest newspaper, Dainik Jagran, needed to assert its opinion leadership and defend against competition from other channels such as television and new media. Its strategy was to identify a pervasive, relevant social problem - in this case, that the Indian judiciary is corrupt, inefficient and incompetent - and drive discussion and debate. A combination of print, radio and owned media was used to fuel conversation and the newspaper went directly to law courts and schools, legal experts and bar associations to gain insight and perspective. Readership leapt by over 800,000 as a result, with significant increases in readers aged under-19 and over-40 (future and current opinion leaders), and high-income readers.

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Forteo Launch

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Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, Entrant, 2012

Eli Lily introduced Forteo, a drug for osteoporosis, into the conservative Japanese pharmaceutical market. View Summary

Eli Lily introduced Forteo, a drug for osteoporosis, into the conservative Japanese pharmaceutical market. The product had clear clinical advantages but was more expensive than the competition and required the user to self-inject instead of swallowing a pill. The company focused the launch on specialists rather than general practitioners, as research showed them to be much better at persuading patients to undertake onerous treatment courses and stick with them. It also became apparent that doctors would need to positively influence the patient's family as well to ensure the treatment was accepted, so an array of patient-facing material was developed. Forteo quickly gained a 9% share and generated sales of Y10bn.